Local Baby Gear Company Celebrating 10 Years With New High-Tech Infant Car Seat

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The robotics baby gear company, 4Moms, is celebrating 10 years in Pittsburgh, but on Wednesday night, an open house marked a new era of innovation in the company's new space, a riverfront complex right next to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center downtown.

The firm also unveiled its newest product, a high-tech infant car seat. It won't be on the market until February of 2016, but 4Moms agreed to give KDKA's Kym Gable a sneak peek.

Co-founder and CEO Rob Daley told her, "The car seat market is a completely different paradigm where it's about innovating on the most important dimension, but now, we're really talking about being able to impact the health and safety of babies."

Vice-President of Engineering Kevin Dowling added, "And this one is designed specifically to be in automobiles and provides confidence by the parent that this will be a safe device and protect the child in the event of an accident."

Daley says research shows over 70 percent of car seats in the United States have some kind of critical installation error.

Richard Juchniewicz, the senior mechanical engineer on the project, demonstrated how the seat works.

"When we started this endeavor, we actually took a training class and went to a lot of our employees' cars who had car seats. And it was surprising. The numbers were pretty spot on. We found people doing it slightly off or incorrectly and it was pretty enlightening," he explained.

A digital screen on the base of the unit lets the parent know if the unit is level. The software is designed to self-adjust.

"We're holding your hand throughout the entire process," said Juchniewicz.

After its success with robotic folding strollers, computerized bouncy seats, and play yards, this product line is new territory for 4Moms, but the mission behind the concept is the same.

It's something Daley calls, "Believing in Better."

"Everything you do says who you are, so you need to continue to aim high and think innovatively in everything you do," he said.

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